Before I make any comments on the actual standard, lets just pray for freshman me for not using

Times New Roman. Okay.

The Selection Process: Because this is the first standard, I would like to start out with what I
believe to my best essay and my worst (first) essay.

Growth: The purpose of my freshman essay was to answer the question: What is the danger of a
single story? My thesis was decent for a ninth grader and it somewhat responds to the prompt by
stating that one is bound to see only part of the picture, but it lacks complexity and states only
the obvious. On the other hand, my senior essay clearly answers the promptIs The Blind
Assassin a classic? as I clearly assert why I believe Atwoods novel is not a classic.
As for the evidence, freshman-me was adept at drawing from multiple sources; however,
he fell short at commenting on the evidence and instead, just left the evidence basking in the
sunlight. Each body paragraph starts with providing evidence but ends with a statement that
merely summarizes the evidence and loosely connects back to the claim. For example, in my
second body paragraph, everything except the last two sentences is summary. Conversely, my
senior essay not only consolidates several scholarly articles but also expands upon the ideas
cited. In the third body paragraph, I utilize three different sources while still maintaining an
equilibrium between summary and analysis (50-50).

Concluding Statement: Over my writing career at Vista, I have learned how to do more than
just quoting ideas. I can now logically prove my own claims through valid reasoning and
meaningful sources.